Final Fantast Versus XIII: Stories from Nihilsomno
by IchigoBunBun
Summary: A stare so deep that is pierces your soul. A shy yound man hiding behind a cool facade. Fighting for his kingdom, his friends, his loved ones. The final heir to the throne, the last protector of the crystal? Noctis Lucis Caelum, Light of the night sky...


I havn't written a story properly for years, so expect some mistakes, nobodies perfect :3

A huge thank you to my friend Jodie for helping me through the first chapter 3

As much as I wish I did, I do not own Versus or any of the characters related to the game~ And to start this story I have used a part of the story from one of the trailers~

So here's the first chapter, please enjoy~

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><p><em>'There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so' William Shakespear<em>

Noctis wearily glanced up at the building that was towering in front of him as he let out a long sigh. Yet another 'social gathering' that the royal line of the Caelum family had to attend. His father, King Caelum, had forced Noctis to attend in his place whilst he was busy seeing to more plans to help protect their kingdom and the residents that resided in it. At the time Noctis had gladly obliged, seeing it as a chance to get out of his home, a home that seemed to become more and more like a prison as the days went on. Oh how he regretted being so willing about it all now.

He glanced upwards again and inhaled a deep breath of the dull and chilly nighttime air; he adjusts his awkward feeling suit, and starts to walk towards the building. He goes in and boards the lift, heading straight to the top where the function was being held. Secretly wishing to himself that there wouldn't be many attendees and that it would be over fairly quickly, _'I can wish!' _he sarcastically thinks to himself.

The lift finally reaches the top floor with a ding that breaks Noctis out of his sulky thoughts, the doors smoothly slide open without a sound to reveal the function room, a completely round room with simple yet elegant decor and lovely calming lighting. The walls and the roof completely made out of glass and in the middle of the floor a rounded staircase that leads up to a small balcony overlooking the city. Noctis barely has a chance to take the beauty of the room in; as soon as he steps from the lift he gets bombarded with the press and what he guesses to be well-wishers from his kingdom and the surrounding lands. _'Well having the final heir attend the same function as them is a big deal to them...' _he thinks to himself, as he greets the well-wishers and answers as many questions as he can. Within the midst of all the madness his attention is caught by a woman, standing away from the main crowd, intently staring at him before she ascends the stairs to the balcony and disappears from his sight. _'What was her problem?' _he wonders to himself, before carrying on with all the greetings.

Eventually his curiosity gets the better of him as he politely makes his excuses and crosses the floor to the foot of the staircase, ready to follow the footsteps that this mysterious woman had taken not long before. Starting up the stairs he remembers seeing the roof of sheer glass when he had got off the lift and looks up to it, and past it, he looks past the sky focusing on something that no one else could see, that no one else even knew about; an ever moving light, so beautiful and enchanting, it was almost as if the world had its own aura, and he was the only one able to see the worlds gift, its own little secret. Noctis shakes his head slightly, as though to snap himself out of his trance, and carries on walking up the rest of the stairs.

As he reaches the balcony Noctis spies the woman standing not far from the top of the stairs, staring at a painting 'Etro the Goddess of Fal'Cie' whilst looking deep in thought. Taking advantage of her being preoccupied Noctis takes a proper look at this mysterious woman, long blonde hair with a side swept fringe, a flattering white knee length dress with complementing ankle boots, a soft and beautiful face, and violet eyes, he stops _'Wait, what?' _he thinks to himself, blinking as he focuses on her eyes again. She slowly turns to face him, giving her his full attention as he blushes slightly out of embarrassment.

"Lord Noctis?" He blinks again, and focuses his attention on her, "Lord Noctis?" she pauses for a brief moment and takes a short breath, "You can see the light...Right?" his eyes open wide as he suppresses a gasp, they both turn to look up past the glass roof, she looks back down to him and slowly walks up to him "Was that what you were looking at from below the stairs?" she asks nervously. He looks at her, feeling disbelief in the conversation that he is having with a complete stranger, turns and slowly walks away as she starts to follow him. _'No getting out of this one.'_ he sighs to himself.

"Pretty much." He hesitantly replies, "When did you start seeing it?"

"When I was a child." She answers.

"A near death experience I presume?" He says, more of a comment to himself than a question.

They both stop walking as she glances at him in disbelief, "Yes! You too?"

Unsure of what to make of her response Noctis starts to walk away again, "It was pretty bad..." he replies, _'who on earth is this woman?' _he thinks to himself, hoping, wishing that the conversation would move away from the current subject. _'Those memories are best left as they are, dead and buried.'_

"The Goddess Etro shall open the gate, welcoming the souls of the dead. When that occurs, a bright light shall shine down through the skies over those who have died. And those few who see that light shall be bestowed with a strength, a power, from the land of the dead." She finishes reciting the story, now slowly walking alongside Noctis as he looks at her, she carries on, "That's the legend... The Tenebrae legend." She walks in front of him as he slows.

Noctis points his arm outwards, towards the city "We have got the same thing here in Nihilsomno." he explains.

She looks at him quizzically, "Did you receive any strength?" she asks.

"No." He replies quickly, waving his hand in dismissal, "I don't need anything like that; I'm fine as I am."

She looks at him, "I know right? No matter what kind it is, if it's at the cost of somebodies life... I'd have nightmares." she comments, failing to suppress a shiver.

He looks at her, deep in thought, _'Then why are your eyes the colour of a magic rune... Like mine?' _"Pretty much a ridiculous bedtime story," he comments stepping closer to her, "You shouldn't talk to other people about the light."

"How come?" She asks him innocently.

Noctis has a sudden feeling of fatigue wash over him as he leans up the balcony banister slightly, trying to keep his balance without making it seem to obvious, "Being different from others can lead to a lot of trouble," he glances straight at her, causing her to blush slightly, "Don't you think?"

She returns his deep look, trying not to blush even more, "But if the legend is just a bedtime story, then what do you think that light really is?" she asks him.

"It's just something that's there..." He replies as he stops leaning on the banister and steps towards her, "Isn't that good enough?... Um?..." realizing that he never asked her name.

"It's Stella" She answered.

"Stella" He says, rolling her name around on his tongue, "I should be going."

Stella looks at him apologetically, "I'm sorry for taking up your time Lord Noctis."

He cringes slightly at the title, "Just Noct is fine" he grins at her.

"I have to go too" She turns away and starts to walk, but stops after a few steps, seemingly in thought, and turns back to him, "I feel like I've received something from that light tonight." she glances up to it and then looks directly at Noctis. "I got a chance to speak to you."

Noctis looks back at her, "You'll have nightmares." he comments, holding his arms out awkwardly.

"You're a mean one aren't you Lord Noctis?" Stella giggles slightly.

"Noct." He replies, correcting her.

"I'll be sure to call you that the next time we meet." She replies cheekily. "You should come to Tenebrae sometime, I'll show you around."

"That sounds interesting, I'll think about it." He replies, recognizing the name 'Tenebrae', but unsure just why. He coolly places his hands on his hips as she turns and takes her leave.

Noctis sighs, slightly glad that that awkward meeting between the two of them was over, as he looks out of the glass roof to the nostalgic light again. An unknown voice booms around him, "Who are you?" he glances towards the painting of the Goddess Etro and looks back up again, "I was about to ask the exact same thing to you." he replies, sighing deeply.

Suddenly he's overcome with a feeling of fatigue again, his head feels heavy and his eyes struggle to stay open. He winces as pain shoots through his entire body, he puts his hand to his head and tries to focus on the room, but all he can see is fire, burning everywhere. He hears shouts or pure panic and screams of anguish; he sees his mother's face, deep within the flames. A face full of fear, telling him to run, to go and save himself. He turns and sees his younger sister, trapped by the fire, panic stricken and full of fear, her tear stained face, crying out, trying to call his name over and over, but he can't move. The flames get bigger, brighter, hotter, building up more and more. Then everything goes black. "Ballare Obscuro Somnus" A deep voice booms around him.

Suddenly his focus is brought back to the room, to the present, by a real crash, the sound of glass shattering as the floor shakes and people start screaming. He runs down the stairs to see what has happened and stops dead in his tracks at the sight of the sheer mayhem that is beginning to unravel.

At the far end an army airship has smashed through the glass wall causing people to run in all directions, scrambling to get away. Noctis slowly walks through the crowd of mayhem towards the airship and stops just a few meters away, his azure eyes glow slightly "Ballare Obscuro Somnus!" he speaks loudly, feeling the magic twist around with his words and surround him. A circular rune appears behind him, a rune azure in colour, glowing strongly like his eyes. He reaches back into it with one arm and pulls out a magnificent sword, a smooth slightly curved blade, with the characters of the rune, of its name inscribed into it, the handle surrounded by what looks like parts of other weapons but only the gun parts are easily worked out. He stands facing the airship, as the rune fades away, readying his sword, getting ready to defend his kingdom against the soldiers that are starting to come from the airship. In a gasp of realization he looks at the soldiers as Stella's face flashes up in his mind.

Soldiers from the army of Tenebrae...

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><p>Bom bom booommmmm~ So that's it for chapter one, I'm going to try and keep this story updated as regularly as possible. Concrit is very much welcome, I'm hoping to keep learning as I carry on with this story, well as long as enough people like it XD<p>

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><p>All the names are in Latin, although some are just what I managed to research for myself, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong with them;<br>Noctis Lucis Caelum: Light of the night sky  
>Stella Fox Fleuret: Night star, Fencingdefence (links to her weapon)  
>Nihilsomno: Sleepless<br>Tenebrae: Shadow  
>Ballare Obscuro Somnus: Dance of the hidden sleep<p> 


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